I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with this song, but it's all about Great Yarmouth and shot in the town too.  Derek Ryan sings this really well, and I just wanted to give him a plug.  I first heard this song a while ago on the local radio station, Harbour Radio.  Personally, I think it's a catchy little song and really enjoyed listening to it.  

 As with most people during the course of this lockdown, I have been going out for my daily walks when it's not been raining.  I was lucky enough the other Sunday to catch the sun out, so went for a lovely walk along the seafront.  I grabbed myself a coffee from one of the cafe's selling take away drinks, and took this lovely photo of Britannia Pier.  Although it was a cold, it was such a bright day.

I noticed a few people out and about too and making the most of the nice weather.  I think everyone is at the end of their tether now and want life to get back to the way it was before this pandemic took over our lives.  Naturally, people are going to remain cautious.  I, like many thousands of people around the world, have had my 1st vaccine.  We all need to play our part to get our lives back.  Happy days are ahead.

STAY SAFE EVERYONE!!!    

 Where has this year gone?  It doesn't seem like 5 minutes ago we were seeing 2020 in, and now here we are, nearly into 2021.  I think most of us will be glad to see the back of this year!  Whilst I was in town earlier, I thought how pretty the Christmas lights look, especially with the light up walkway you can walk through.  I saw families walking through with their children taking pictures.  That was really nice to see.

Christmas will, indeed, be very different for a lot of people this year, won't it?  I for one, won't be going far.  Now that people have started having the vaccines, let's hope that there is a glimmer of hope for the future.  Well, I hope you all have a lovely Christmas, whatever it is you've got planned.  It can only get better,  hey?

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

The Jetty

The Jetty which once stood in between Wellington Pier and Britannia Pier was demolished in 2012.  There now stands a plaque where the jetty once stood giving people a short history of the jetty.  The reason this was demolished is because it would of cost the local council too much money to maintain - an estimated £300,000.  I remember at the time though that many local people were saddened at the fact that the jetty was going to be taken apart, mainly because of the historical factor.

As you can see from the photo above, the jetty wasn't very long, but nevertheless, it was popular with locals and visitors alike.  Built in the 16th century, this was built as a landing fish and also for the export and import of goods.  During the Napoleonic Wars this was used the fleet often assembled here.  And it is known that Lord Horatio Nelson visited here twice.  Firstly in 1800 after the Battle of the Nile and again in 1801 after the Battle of Copenhagen.

There was a campaign at the time to try and stop the demolition, but to no avail.  Sadly the Council thought the jetty was too unsafe to keep and thought it was too expensive to maintain.  As I said, there now stands a plaque where the jetty once stood.  But even so, it is sad to see this bare piece of beach where the jetty once stood.

The Maritime Festival in Great Yarmouth 2019.

Great Yarmouth Fishing Industry.

Great Yarmouth is steeped in history and by walking around the town you will see remnants of its history from the old Roman walls and the buildings.  As you walk along the Quayside, little remains of the fishing industry, but it was once a thriving, bustling place that was alive with people lined along the Quay cutting and gutting the herring that came into the port.

The Fisher Girls

The herring fishing trade had reached its peak in 1930.  It was said that you could walk walk from one side of the river to the other as there were that many boats in dock.  Although there were men and women come to Gt Yarmouth from all over the Country, they mainly came from Scotland.  The men would go out on the Drifters to fish, and the women would stand by the Quayside gutting fish, very similar to this picture.  This was extremely hard work, especially in the winter months when it was cold, as you can only imagine.  The fishing industry, however, can be dated back as far back to the 10th Century when Great Yarmouth was known as a fishing settlement.  In the early part of the 20th Century the average catch was around 530 million fish.  That's extrodinary, isn't it?  With new rules and regulations coming into force preventing the fishermen from fishing, the industry died.

Lydia Eva

The Lydia Eva is the last surviving steam powered herring drifter.  This is now docked in Great Yarmouth and is a free to enter museum depicting the life of the fishing industry and how the men would fish on a daily basis.  The ship isn't that large and from visitng this, you can get an idea of life was on board.  This drifter was built in Kings Lynn and was in use as a fishing drifer for 9 years when it was sold at the end of 1938.

Lydia Eva

The fishermen usually fished at night.  The reason for this was because the fish tended to rise to the top of the ocean at night.  They would throw the nets out and drag the fish in this way.

  

The Fishermen

From this picture, you can get an idea of what life was like on a drifter.  The nets would be thrown in to the sea vertically.  Once their nets were full the ships would make their way back to the dock slowly as to keep the nets in a straight line.

Life was definitely hard for both the men and the women back then.  But it was certainly a very enriching and rewarding era for the town .  

The Lydia Eva

Time & Tide Museum